Teach Children About Feelings: Show Me and Other Activities

Little Cat’s Ninang E who was once a preschool teacher told us that they have an activity at school where kids were asked to show different emotions and capture them in photo.  It’s a good activity on helping children identify feelings and on to encouraging them to express their feelings.

So after my litany on children’s books about feelings, let me share some pictures of LC’s different faces.  I’ve captured three so far.

LC’s got waaay more happy pictures, but this is his happy pose:

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One of the latest books to join our library came from my bestfriend E.  It’s Let My Colors Out written by Courtney Filigenzi and illustrated by Shennen Bersani.  I’m glad we had another book about feelings since it’s really rare that I’d find a book in bargain bins expounding on the topic.

The book tackles on quite a sensitive issue – a parent with cancer and how a child tries to cope with it.  Filigenzi wrote the book in honor of her friends and relatives’ children who have parents diagnosed or are in treatment for the Big C.  Let me share with you some pages of the book. 

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After July and The Feelings Book, it took months before I came across another book specially written about feelings.  In a happy pile at Booksale SM Megamall, I found Dr. Seuss’ My Many Colored Days.

Illustrations in the book were paintings done by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher.  If the pages were food, I say it’s gourmet-ish picturesque.  It’s a stark contrast from Todd Parr’s stick figures and quirky pages.

Feelings or emotions felt in a day are presented in this book through colors, thus the “colored days.”  It starts off with a normal day of being yellow or blue.  What is yellow?  Is it for happy and carefree days?  What is blue?  Is it always sad or can it be a different feeling?  These questions are surely discussion openers.  Leading questions must be on hand with young children though.

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Children, just like adults, have issues with their feelings.  Babies and toddlers too!   Tantrums, pushing, throwing things, biting and other demeanor may just be a result of them not understanding what they are feeling.  They have yet to know what they are feeling and learn how to process and address these.

For this, I am always on the look-out for books that teach about feelings.  We already have three now:  The Feelings Book, My Many Colored Days and Let My Colors Out.

Let me share with you a little review and some pages of these books starting with our first acquisition.